National Chocolate Day is on October 28. The sweet holiday celebrates the beloved billion-dollar industry of chocolate that’s as iconic as is common. The M&M logo is one of the most recognizable brands out there.
Chocolate is not only delicious and beloved, but it is also versatile.
Pam and David Griffin, the husband-and-wife chocolatier team behind the Black-owned Chocolate Therapy, consistently push confectionary boundaries with bold and inventive chocolate recipes.
Originally from Chicago, the couple’s portfolio is indicative of their business savvy and entrepreneurial spirit. Their earliest business endeavors started in their hometown in the late ’80s, when Pam and David owned a coffee shop that eventually succumbed to the powerful beverage conglomerate Starbucks.
Pam Griffin at work PHOTO: COURTESY CHOCOLATE THERAPY
After which, Pam spent 17 years as the Starbucks regional director in the Northeast, and David worked for over two decades in engineering and manufacturing, exiting the corporate sphere as the president of a Midwest car company.
“I know there are chocolate stores everywhere, but there are also coffee shops everywhere, and you know, I guess I had done coffee, so now I’m like, let’s do chocolate,” said Pam Griffin, co-owner of Chocolate Therapy.
When founding Chocolate Therapy in 2011, Pam and David combined their shared experience within corporate America along with their shared love of chocolate to create the company’s concept and carry out their plan to build their dream.
“It’s interesting because honestly, we literally had just left corporate America, and [Chocolate Therapy] wasn’t started because we were long-time makers or lovers of chocolate, though we do love chocolate. We moved here from Chicago due to my husband’s work and then things changed, and we were both just, you know, running around, and life was hectic and crazy, and so we then just decided to do something for ourselves.”
A sampling of Chocolate Therapy’s creations PHOTO: COURTESY CHOCOLATE THERAPY
And thus, Chocolate Therapy was born.
“[My husband] did a lot of research on different franchise options and things like that, and he got an entrepreneurial coach, and she talked to us about chocolate, and chocolate is very sustainable. It’s a billion-dollar industry and we think it’s going to be around even after we are,” she said.
Chocolate Therapy boasts a myriad of unique truffle combinations that are continually reinvented. Their popular flavor offerings, always original, incorporate ingredients that most wouldn’t think complement each other.
“It’s just things we like. It’s foods we eat. I love pomegranate, he loves pistachio, so we of course have flavors with those. We do truffles. We do olive oil. We put [olive oil] pretty much in everything we eat,” exclaimed Pam.
Popular flavors include olive oil and dark chocolate, milk chocolate mixed with citrus lemon, lime, blood orange, and even sweet potato and dark chocolate truffle.
“We aren’t vegans or anything, but we are healthy eaters, olive oil, cayenne, nuts, and just different things. Dark chocolate because dark chocolate is a superfood, and so it just all revolves around how we eat healthy,” she said.
With a team of 10, Pam and David are able to sustain their business, with their operation taking place both in person and online and the company hosting events like virtual or in-person tasting classes.
Chocolate Therapy is a chocolate company that celebrates creativity, passion, and the simple pleasures of chocolate. Continuing to walk the path that their leap of faith took them on, Pam, David and Chocolate Therapy are thriving.
“Please look out for a big surprise in November, it’s really only a few weeks away. It’s something that is exciting in our journey, on this chocolate journey that is happening for us in November!”
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